As described in Utterberg U.S. Pat. No. 5,385,372, issued Jan. 31, 1995, luer connectors are well-known and used in a wide variety of medical sets and the like, in which a tapered sleeve or nozzle fits into a tapered socket to provide a tight connection. Typically, the luer connector complies with ISO/ANSI specifications. A variant of this is the "luer-lock" connector, in which the conventional luer connection is reinforced with a releasable locking system to avoid accidental separation.
Female luer connectors in the prior art have closure caps, either separate, or attached with a flexible, umbilical cord-like strap to prevent loss of the cap.
As described in the above patent, problems with the prior art systems include the fact that when the connector is uncapped, the cap is free to move in any direction that its flexible cord or strap permits. Thus, due to such flexibility, this system is ill suited for automated capping. Manual labor is typically required to initially place the cap on the end of the connector after molding, even through the cap and connector may be simultaneously molded in a single shot. Also, when the user has removed the cap and desires to recap it, the recapping is not easily done with a single finger of the same hand holding the connector. Rather, closer attention is typically required, along with grasping of the cap with the thumb and forefinger of the other hand, to properly position the cap for recapping on the luer.
By this invention, a new design of luer connector with a hinged cap is provided. In preferred embodiments, the hinged cap may be removed from the luer connector with the action of a single finger of the same hand holding the luer connector, and it may be reapplied in a reliable, repetitive manner with a single finger as well. Additionally, the cap may be closed onto its luer connector by a machine in automated manner after molding of the cap and connector in a single shot, for a reduction of initial manufacturing costs. Nevertheless, a space is provided so that a male luer lock connector or the like may connect with the female connector of this invention, with a locking sleeve of the typical luer lock connector engaging in unimpeded manner with the exterior of the female luer connector.
The invention of this application may also be used in conjunction with connectors other than luer connectors as desired.
The connector also exhibits certain improvements over the connectors disclosed in the previously cited patent in terms of ease of molding and consequent manufacturing cost.